24h Le Mans
Forty years since Pink Floyd brought out the album "The Dark Side Of The Moon", which is still the biggest selling album ever. This success has not been without consequences, Nick Mason, the drummer for the group has a passion for motorsport.
Photo : Archives ACO
It is thanks to the royalties generated by sales of "The Dark Side Of The Moon ", that helped him in his collection of sports cars and to take part in racing ... And his first purchase was an example of the legendary Ferrari 250 GTO (of which only 39 were built), which was from 1962 to 1964 the undisputed queen of the GT class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and also on the French roads of the Tour Auto! Today , the collection of Nick Mason has many cars dating back to the origins of motor sport , some of which have entered history, such as the Formula 1 Ferrari 312T3 with which Gilles Villeneuve scored his first victory in the Canadian Grand Prix in 1978. There is also a prototype Porsche 962C run first in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1990 by Richard Lloyd Racing, which finished eleventh in the hands of Bruno Giacomelli , John Watson and Allan Berg .
In the autumn of 1979 , Pink Floyd released the double album " The Wall ." A few months earlier , Nick Mason raced in his first 24 Hours of Le Mans , driving a Lola T297 . He finished 18th , his best result in the Sarthe in five appearances . Up to 1984 , he raced in the prototype two-litre class (1979 and 1980 in a Dorset Racing Lola T297) , Group C prototypes (1983 in a Dome RC82 and 1984 ) and in the GT class (1982) , with an EMKA BMW M1 owned and also driven by Steve O'Rourke, the manager of Pink Floyd and Richard Down . Since then , Nick Mason has returned to Le Mans with his Ferrari GTO to the Le Mans Classic. He is also a regular at the two annual events at Goodwood (in Great Britain), The Festival of Speed in July and the Revival in September , where he races many of the cars in his collection .
Nick Mason runs a company hiring his collection of cars out for films,TV, etc. Please visit: www.tentenths.co.uk
For more information about the Le Mans Classic, which will next be held on 5th/6th July 2014 , please visit: www,lemansclassic.com
Jean -Philippe Doret / ACO
Photo: CIRCUIT OF THE 24 HOURS ( Le Mans , Sarthe ), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS , 16 & 17 June 1984 . For his racecar in that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, Nick Mason was driving a GTi Engineering Porsche 956 shared with the Frenchman René Metge and team owner Richard Lloyd .
